Prey species and prey diet affect growth of invertebrate predators

Abstract

1. The effects of prey species and leaf age used by prey on performance of two generalist invertebrate predators were studied. The focal plant was Plantago lanceolata, which contains iridoid glycosides.2. Diet of the herbivorous prey influenced their growth rate. 3. The generalist herbivore (Vanessa cardui) and the novel-plant feeder (Manduca sexta) contained very low levels of iridoid glycosides in their haemolymph, whereas the specialist (Junonia coenia) levels were 50-150-fold higher.4. Predatory stinkbugs (Podisus maculiventris) fed either the novel-plant feeder or the specialist exhibited similar developmental rates. However, stinkbugs ate less of the generalist but grew faster. The growth rate of the stinkbugs was higher when the caterpillar species were raised on the new-leaf powder diet, which contained twice as much protein and iridoid glycosides as the mature-leaf powder diet.5. Jumping spiders (Phidippus audax) ate more mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) than specialist J. coenia caterpillars, fed either new-or mature-leaf powder diets, and could not gain weight when fed J. coenia.6. These results indicate that prey quality was not determined solely by the iridoid glycoside concentration in the diet.

Untitled

“…We attribute the higher amount of feeding by the fifth instars to the physiological requirement that the fifth instars need more energy for imminent morphological and physiological development of reproductive organs. Strohmeyer et al [28] found that P. maculiventris females fed more than males, which is contradictory to our study. DeClercq and Degheele [29] also reported that mated P. maculiventris females consumed more prey than males.…”

Reproduction and longevity of Supputius cincticeps (Het.: Pentatomidae) fed with larvae of Zophobas confusa, Tenebrio molitor (Col.: Tenebrionidae) or Musca domestica (Dip.: Muscidae)

“…This suggested that larvae of the first two preys presented more nutrients (e.g., proteins) for nymphs of this predator, thus improving their development. These results were similar to those observed for P. maculiventris which had bigger body weight of newly-emerged adults when its nymphs were fed on T. molitor larvae than on Junonia coenia Hubner, Vanessa cardui (L.) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) or Manduca sexta (L.) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) caterpillars (Strohmeyer et al 1998). A positive correlation between the calorific value and larvae size of the alternative prey G. mellonella allowed obtaining heavier P. maculiventris females (Mukerji and LeRoux 1969).…”

Selection of prey to improve biological parameters of the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas, 1851) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in laboratory conditions

“…Lacerda et al (2004) recorded a development time of 19.03 days for P. nigrispinus fed on M. domestica larvae, which is similar to the results observed in the present study. According to Strohmeyer et al (1998), in addition to prey type, the quality of the diet of the prey affects the growth rate of some predators, including the pentatomids which as Podisus maculiventris (Say, 1832) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae).…”